Bellingham-area smelter to close

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Compiled from wire services 

Bellingham _ The Alcoa Intalco Works aluminum smelter will close Oct. 1, probably for good, unless public pressure forces the federal Bonneville Power Administration to change its plan for huge increases in electricity prices, an Alcoa executive said.

High prices in BPA's new five-year schedule would make the plant just north of Bellingham uneconomical, said Lloyd Jones, president of U.S. smelting operations for Alcoa Inc. Some 1,200 jobs would be affected by a closure.

"Any price being offered would be so high that we could not afford to operate the smelter," Jones said.

BPA, the agency that markets electricity from Columbia River dams, said Monday that soaring prices for electricity coupled with a regional drought could force it to more than triple its wholesale electric rates.

Acting BPA Director Steven Wright called for all of the region's aluminum plants to shut down for the next two years so their share of cheap hydropower could instead be made available for public utilities.